Russia to the RescueCommentary on the News
Saturday, March 23, 2013Ed DeShields

As Cyprus teeters on the edge of a chaotic bankruptcy it doesn’t take a genius to speculate who will be riding to its rescue.

First a little background for those who aren’t up to date on the European financial crisis. Last year, Greece spent much of its time in the news battling with its European Union neighbors about bailing its bankrupt government out of its trouble. Other European countries fell hard into recession, and near depression, including Portugal, Spain and Italy. Now Cyprus is on the hot seat from its financial mis-management.

Cyprus is a tiny country relatively speaking. But, what makes Cyprus different is that it is sitting on the western end of those same gas fields recently discovered by Israel. The European Union wants Cyprus to sell its riches in exchange for a bailout of its banks. And, that’s where the Russian white knights come in.

Cyprus is about to become the latest battleground for Russia’s quest for world energy supremacy.

Gazprom, Russia’s state oil producer, has been snapping up major positions in much of the most important oil fields around the world. Last week, Gazprom offered to bail out the Bank of Cyprus in exchange for the exclusive control of the gas reserves off the coast of the island.

Cyprus hasn’t even had an opportunity to develop its new discoveries in its offshore waters that could contain up to 60 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas. In comparison, that’s about equal to the natural-gas reserves of Texas. That’s a lot of gas and if controlled by Russia would guarantee Gazprom’s stranglehold on Europe’s energy sources.

With that power, the next stop is Israel’s energy riches and a major foothold into the Middle East oil market. Most importantly it sets the stage for Israel’s deal with the devil with nothing the U.S. and Europe can do but stand by and watch.